They weren?t war plans, they were BATTLE plans?that?s the White House's new, extremely believable spin on why J.D. Vance, Pete Hegseth and countless other Trump officials were using a Signal chat to coordinate a military strike. Jon and Max relish the idiocy of what?s now become the most famous group chat in the world, and then dive into Snapchat?s latest feature that?s making teens even more glued to their screens. Then, the guys run through DoorDash?s new partnership with micro loan company Klarna, and why it?s shocking Apple allowed the Severance finale to air. Plus! Max sits down with journalist Charles Duhigg, author of Supercommunicators and host of a spinoff podcast, to talk about why connecting with people you disagree with builds stronger coalitions, and why values unify voters better than ideas.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Meta has called an emergency arbitration hearing over a tell-all memoir by Facebook's former Director of Global Public Policy. The author, Sarah Wynn Williams, has had to cancel all her book promotion?including coming on Offline this week. Jon and Max protest Sarah?s gag order by delving into her book, Careless People, and platforming her allegations of sexual harassment, the company?s role in Myanmar's genocide, and its supplicant relationship with the Chinese Communist Party. Then, the guys discuss whether humans have passed peak brain power, and why Sam Seder?s appearance in a Jubilee video has everything Gavin Newsom?s podcast is missing.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

 

A new Facebook whistleblower has come forward with shocking allegations?seems like company execs have been trying to cozy up to everyone from the Chinese Communist Party to their own employees. Max and Jon break down the drama, check in on Trump's TikTok sale, and discuss how this week?s viral J.D. Vance memes reflect the war for dominance between Democrats and Republicans. Then, audio journalist Zack Mack joins Offline to talk about his latest project, "Alternate Realities," for NPR?s Embedded podcast. Last year, Zach made a $10,000 bet with his dad, hoping it would pull him out of a right-wing conspiracy rabbit hole. He shares how he found ways to empathize with his father, and the painful lessons he learned about persuasion.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Not too long ago, Donald Trump, Joe Rogan, and Dana White?Offline?s favorite power brokers?identified UFC as a pathway for reshaping culture and politics around their idea of masculinity. Rolling Stone Magazine?s Jack Crosbie joins the pod to explain the parallel rise of MAGA and the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and break down why the sport is so appealing to young men. But first! Jon and Max run through some very Offline moments in Trump's joint congressional address, starting with the President comparing himself to victims of deepfake pornography. Then, they dive into Jon and Elon?s storied past, and what led Favs to intercede on peanut butter gate?a loss for the Focus Challenge, but a win for ending child hunger. Finally, they take a look at the economic blackout, whose slogan ?don?t buy stuff" took off on social media this week. 

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Twenty-one DOGE staffers resigned this week, citing the agency?s meddling in the federal government. Meanwhile, top DOGE Elon Musk was brandishing a chainsaw onstage at CPAC. And closer to home, a new armed-driver app purports to be ?Uber with guns.? Jon and Max sift through it all, translate Musk?s claim that, ?I am become meme,? and debate whether he intends to train Grok on the private data he?s stolen. But it?s not all bad news! AI is warpspeeding disease research, and has even discovered an antibiotic that seems to be effective against drug-resistant bacteria. And LA Public schools are doing their own version of the Offline Challenge, with a new cellphone ban being rolled out in classrooms across the district.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Special Government Employee Elon Musk has attempted to access our most personal data. Meanwhile, Billionaire Tech Mogul Elon Musk attempted to take over one of the biggest artificial intelligence companies in the world. Coincidence? In other news, Edgelord Elon Musk and his band of misfit fanboys are trying to uncover massive fraud and corruption, reading the data wrong, and making up stories that feels right to them. Jon and Max walk through it all, with stops along the way for TikTok?s triumph over app stores and the UK?s move to confiscate encrypted content. Then, the guys debrief on this week?s Offline Focus Challenge and Max gets some words of wisdom from Dr. Gloria Mark, author of the book Attention Span.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

U.S. democracy is likely to break down during this second Trump presidency, but what lies ahead isn?t a traditional dictatorship. Dr. Steven Levitsky joins Offline to explain competitive authoritarianism?what it looks like, how Trump and his cronies are enacting it already, and why it?s more popular than the fascism of yore. But first! Max and Jon discuss how the MAGA regime is silencing critics, including with two frivolous media lawsuits against ABC and CBS. Then they dive into rumors that Elon Musk is trying to use DOGE to replace federal workers with robots, and share updates on the ultra competitive, ultra scientific Offline Challenge.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

MSNBC?s Chris Hayes joins Offline to discuss how our society?s commodification of attention has made us miserable while empowering authoritarians like Donald Trump. Chris?s new book, The Sirens? Call, explains how humans mistake online engagement for social connection, why the media is beholden to flashy headlines, and why no one can bear being alone with their thoughts. He and Jon discuss how Democrats need to operate in this frenetic environment and examine whether fascism offers a reprieve to people tired of engaging. But first! It?s time for a new edition of the Offline Challenge. Over the next few weeks, Jon and Max will be fortifying their attention spans through a series of focus-building exercises. The goal: stay sane, grounded and committed to what matters most throughout Donald Trump?s second term. Follow along as they put down their phones, touch grass and reclaim control of their attention.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Senator Chris Murphy joins Offline with a warning for his fellow Democrats: the longer we take to counter Trump?s horrifying shock and awe strategy, the harder it will be to get up off the mat.  The Connecticut Senator shares how the pardoning of January 6th protestors has impacted his personal security, what the Republican party is getting right about helping people find purpose, and why the handover of power to tech overlords is such a bad, bad idea. But first! Jon and Max dive into DeepSeek to unravel whether it?s the Sputnik of AI, debate if Republican influencers are using a new playbook, and unpack Elon Musk?s recent comments at a German far right rally. Then, they bid farewell to the Gulf of Mexico and offer some context on why Google is bending to Trump?s whims.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

TikTok is back from the dead... at least for now. After a self-imposed shutdown and a shameless appeal to President Trump, the countdown to the TikTok ban has restarted. Meanwhile, the rest of Silicon Valley is taking turns kissing the ring. Jon and Max discuss the list of tech oligarchs vying for Trump's favor, explain what they have to gain from the President's new Stargate AI announcement, and debate if it's time to pump their life savings into $TRUMP a new "meme coin" launched by the President that's managed to annoy even the most ardent MAGA crypto bros. The guys walk through the grift, and discuss how a Supreme Court case on age verification for porn sites could be a great safeguard for kids on social media. Then, Max sits down with Derek Thompson, author of this month's cover story in The Atlantic, to talk about why people don?t equate social isolation with loneliness, and what this means for our society and politics.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

The Supreme Court is the latest branch of government to kicktok TikTok to the curb?at least under its present Chinese ownership. Max and Jon break down what may happen to the app over the next few days and explain how a newly inaugurated President Trump could change its fate. Until then, Americans are fleeing the presumed CCP-controlled platform for an explicitly CCP-controlled platform: RedNote. The guys wade through the online takes and discuss whether the TikTok ban is actually a violation of First Amendment rights, why Mark Zuckerberg?s MAGAfication might be related to TikTok?s demise and how Joe Biden incorporated Offline talking points into his farewell address.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Offline?s favorite foe of Big Tech, FTC Chair Lina Khan, joins the show to talk to Jon about standing up to Meta and Amazon, how the internet has changed the way monopolies operate, and why her work has made her an unlikely folk hero. Plus: Max and Jon sit down to talk about the misinformation spreading about the Los Angeles fires, Meta?s decision to abandon fact checking, and the last ditch efforts to save TikTok before the US ban takes effect next week.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy joins Offline to share his final prescription for the nation He and Jon talk about why his parting message is all about community, the online reaction to the United Healthcare assassination, and how young people are struggling to find depth and meaning in a culture that glorifies fame and wealth. Then, Max and Jon answer listener-submitted questions, Jon recommits himself to posting on social media, and Jeremiah Johnson returns to the pod to discuss the worst tweets of 2024.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

The more we learn about the alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the more his digital footprint falls into the Offline wheelhouse. Luigi Mangione has posted about Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price; on Twitter he follows everyone from AOC to Ezra Klein to Joe Rogan. And don?t get us started on his Goodreads profile! Jon and Max talk through the internet's embrace of a suspected murderer, and whether the edgelords really believe what they?re posting. But first! The DC Circuit Court of Appeals rejected TikTok?s attempt to overturn an impending ban, which is scheduled to take effect next month?unless Trump or SCOTUS intervene. Plus, Max rants about the American Society of Anesthesiologists and Jon talks about what drove him to write an article for The Atlantic.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

How often do you talk to someone you disagree with?not in a Twitter pile on, but face to face?  With Donald Trump?s inauguration fast approaching (plus holidays full of opinionated relatives), Jon sits down with Dave Isay, the founder of StoryCorps, to talk about the healing power of conversation. StoryCorps is a segment on NPR?s Morning Edition, a podcast and the largest single archive of personal narratives in the world. Since 2016, it?s also facilitated conversations between Republicans and Democrats as part of its One Small Step Initiative, and the results are surprisingly heartwarming. Jon and Dave talk about strategies to overcome political polarization, what we learn when we talk to strangers, and how to have productive conversations with people who disagree with you.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

While Offline is on a break this week, enjoy some of the best moments from the Crooked subscription exclusive show Terminally Online. Listen to learn more than you ever needed to know about the nuanced art of Balkan breakfast, RFK?s horny TikTok history, the ghosts in Tucker Carlson?s bedroom, and the complex backstory of the Costco Guys.

If you want more, head to Crooked.com/Friends and subscribe! You'll get Terminally Online and other subscriber shows, and it's the best way to support Crooked Media as we build an independent, progressive media company.

Jon got piled on last week for tweeting that activist groups have pushed the Democratic Party out of supermajority territory. Waleed Shahid, a progressive strategist who?s worked for Bernie Sanders, AOC, and Justice Democrats, joins the show for an offline version of his and Jon?s online debate. Waleed explains why he thinks the blame is misplaced, and Jon weighs in on who?or what?is behind Democratic leaders losing touch with their base. But first! Trump?s new head of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, is a Project 2025 author. What does this mean for social media, free speech, and Elon Musk?s ventures? Plus, new exit polling shows late-deciding, swing voters had wildly inaccurate beliefs about Kamala Harris?s policy positions. Is hyper-targeted misinformation a permanent part of our electoral process now?

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Somehow the interminable ?who is the liberal Joe Rogan? debate is still raging a week after the election. Jeremiah Johnson, co-director of the Center for New Liberalism and author of the substack ?Infinite Scroll? joins Offline to explain what the Rogan question gets wrong, how Democrats should expand their tent, and why we all need to stop scrolling and start making things. But first! BlueAnon is at it again. Jon and Max break down election conspiracy theories?this time from liberals?and walk through how Trump will approach AI, crypto, and TikTok as president. Then, Offline producers Austin Fisher and Emma Illick-Frank sit down with the guys to compare draft picks for the left?s Joe Rogan, and to youthsplain the internet?s best and brightest.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Yeah, rough week. Jon and Max reckon with Tuesday?s result and break down how Donald Trump ? once again ? was able to grow his coalition. They dissect how Trump won despite his very online campaign, not because of it ? and why that may be cause for hope. Then they share their own experience knocking doors in swing states, talk about the role misinformation and foreign interference played in the election, and return to Offline?s most important question: How can we make democracy work in our current information environment? Plus, Max offers up what may be the only fun question about the next four years. How long will it be before Donald Trump publicly and nationally humiliates Elon Musk?

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

The 2024 election is almost upon us, and if you?re not anxious?please give us some of whatever you?re taking. Barton Gellman, Senior Advisor at the Brennan Center for Justice, joins Offline to talk about how election officials are safeguarding your vote. This spring, Gellman co-lead a series of table top exercises involving current and former politicians, military officers, and analysts. Together, they played out worst-case scenarios under a second Trump presidency to better understand the true threat he poses to democracy?and brainstorm how conscientious objectors, state governments, and even protesting priests could slow him down. But first! Max and Jon talk about whether newspapers should endorse presidents, Jeff Bezos?s cringey letter, and the many ways they?re quelling their own election anxiety.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

The Good Liars, a MAGA trolling comedy duo, join Offline to share what it?s like on the ground at Trump rallies this close to the election. Davram Stiefler and Jason Selvig have been churning out political satire since they occupied Occupy Wall Street, and they talk to Jon about finding the humor and holes in the Trump camp?s rhetoric. But first! This week the app formerly known as Twitter announced a major change to the block function: it?s gone. Max and Jon discuss whether the ensuing X-odus will finally make Bluesky relevant, and why Jon doesn?t like to give his haters the satisfaction of being blocked. Then, it?s bros vs. brobots as the guys face down their own obsolescence and listen to an AI-generated podcast from NotebookLM. The platform is trained on whatever data?or book about saving democracy?you upload, and can synthesize the material into a jokey conversation between two hosts with a good rapport?sound familiar?

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Why are FEMA workers being threatened for trying to help clean up after Hurricane Helene? Jon and Max break down the misinformation spreading on social media, including the now infamous girl-with-puppy AI image. Then, they discuss the leaked documents that show TikTok knows exactly how harmful their app is, and check in on Elon Musk. The Tesla CEO is going all out to help Trump?s campaign, but fortunately the porn industry is lending a hand to beat it back.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Hasan Piker, Gen Z?s favorite left wing political commentator and Twitch streamer, joins Offline to talk about the Trump campaign?s bro-first election strategy, the right wing?s dominance of the digital media landscape, and why, 25 days until the election, he?s feeling mostly?tired. Jon and Hasan debate the Biden-Harris policy agenda, particularly with regard to immigration and Israel-Palestine, and Hasan shares how he avoids burnout while talking politics live for 50 hours a week.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Alex Jones? conspiracy media network, InfoWars, is up for sale, as is the at-home genetic testing service 23andMe?and potentially the DNA of 15 million people who used it. Meanwhile, TikTok grifters are using AI to fake defecting to North Korea, and it?s for a dumber reason than you could possibly imagine. But first! Silicon Valley thinks it?s finally figured out how to make smart glasses that someone will actually want to buy. Max and guest host Jane Coaston (What A Day) break it all down. Then, Max interviews New Yorker correspondent David Kirkpatrick about the rise of left-wing. internet vigilantes who are infiltrating white nationalist groups.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

New York Times tech reporter Kate Conger joins Offline to discuss Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter, a new book she coauthored with Ryan Mac. It?s the best coverage out there of Elon?s takeover and the subsequent deterioration of the platform, with behind-the-scenes reporting on how and why he bought the company, and the decisions he?s made since. But first! Jon and Max discuss whether the danger of Donald Trump has become more abstract since his forced migration to Truth Social. Then they unpack Chappell Roan?s decision to support but not endorse Kamala Harris, and John Mulaney?s hilarious takedown of Salesforce at the company?s own conference.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Critic Emily St. James and Crooked?s Halle Kiefer join Max to discuss ?Blade Runner,? the 1982 classic that asks the question: could an AI chatbot become so hot that it would be unethical to delete it? Perhaps no other movie has had as big an impact on sci-fi or the aesthetic of futurism as Ridley Scott?s film. Is this Harrison Ford?s peak hotness? Which Silicon Valley Overlord is our Tyrell? If life imitates art, does tech imitate sci-fi? Listen to the final installment of Offline Movie Club to find out.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Tristan Harris, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology and ex-design ethicist at Google, joins Offline to chat about the attention economy, why tech execs don?t let their own kids on the apps, and how our AI arms race is one giant game of Jenga. But first! Jon and Max break down Instagram?s new sweeping changes for teen users?do they address child safety concerns? Why now? Will kids be able to outsmart the new rules? Then they turn to pet-obsessed Springfield, Ohio, which has been suffering through some of the most pestilent (and catchy) misinformation of this election cycle. To close it out, the guys break down North Carolina Lt. Governor Mark Robinson?s slew of scandals, and how Republicans are shamelessly endorsing him nonetheless.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Since ?Fight Club? hit theaters in 1999, the movie has become both a cinematic cult classic and a building block of how people (mostly men) express themselves online. Film critic Emily St. James and Crooked?s Erin Ryan join Offline Movie Club to talk about whether David Fincher?s opus deserves its top tier rankings, how the movie has been misappropriated by disillusioned Gen Xers and online chauvinists alike, and whether there are any feminist messages to be found. In essence, it?s Edward Norton playing a bored shitposter with Brad Pitt as his edgelord sock puppet account?what?s not to love? 

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Robert Putnam, renowned political scientist and author of Bowling Alone and The Upswing, joins Offline to explain why bowling alone and scrolling alone are two sides of the same coin. Putnam has spent his life deciphering why social capital?our connection to each other and our communities?has been withering away for the last 50 years. The consequences of this trend are the focus of a new documentary, ?Join or Die,? which explores the importance of civic engagement in America. Bob and Jon talk about the film, why social capital undergirds democracy, and why the internet is no substitute for joining an in-person club.

Join or Die is the inaugural film of the IRL Movie Club - a new initiative for Americans to gather in art house cinemas, watch documentaries in the public interest and then talk about them. To learn more, visit https://www.irlmovieclub.org/

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

This week Offline Móvie Clúb takes on ?Tár,? the 2022 film about a music conductor whose narcissism and abuses of power bring about her very public downfall. Max is joined by New York Times critic at large, Amanda Hess, and Offline critic at large, Jon Favreau, to examine the movie?s takes on cancel culture, identity construction and the limits of control?especially online. Should we feel pity for cancelled celebrities? To what extent is social media real life? And is ?Tár? secretly a comedy?

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

It?s not just supplements and energy drinks fueling the manosphere. Your favorite right-wing podcaster may be sponsored by?Vladimir Putin! Jon and Max discuss the new federal indictment alleging that the Kremlin has been funding right-wing internet personalities, including Tim Pool. Then they break down why the Brazilian Supreme Court has blocked access to X and why the ?Hawk Tuah? girl?s new podcast showcases the difference between virality and popularity. But first! Donald Trump is doing the red-pilled podcast circuit in an effort to get young men to vote for him. The guys take stock of the former president?s appearances from Jake Paul to Lex Fridman, and explain why a ?laid-back? Trump is so dangerous.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Has there ever been a more dramatic Twitter thread than A?Ziah King?s 2015 saga about a roadtrip turned kidnapping? Erin Ryan and Josie Duffy Rice join Max to discuss ?Zola,? the movie adaptation of those tweets. The film tells the (mostly true) story of a young stripper getting whisked away to Florida by a new acquaintance and her pimp. Its searing commentary on sex trafficking is studded with notification sounds and social media soliloquies, to both sinister and comedic effect. Are Florida roadtrips ever a good idea? What are the hallmarks of toxic white girls? And how much of the original post was really true? Listen to this week?s Offline Movie Club to find out.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Max and Jon sit down to break down a very online DNC, diving into Obama?s anti-social media convention speech, the MyPillow guy?s embarrassing troll attempts, and a Taylor Swift & Beyonce rumor that spun out of control. Plus: Mark Zuckerberg?s fear driven turn towards Trump and the new political divide: cranks vs. everyone else.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Jon Lovett and Erin Ryan join Max to discuss how ?The Truman Show,? predicted our current era of continuous surveillance and content mining. The movie may be from 1998, but its insights are just as applicable 25 years later?from cults of celebrity, to Fox News, to Instagram. Is Ed Harris? dome over Burbank a cautionary tale about fascist governance? Do we all hide parts of personalities, depending on context? Why was Jon Lovett freaked out by the Hunger Games premiere? Find out in this week?s Offline Movie Club.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Peter Thiel isn?t as rich as Elon Musk or as notorious as Steve Bannon. But over the last 10 years he has grown from Silicon Valley?s oddball conservative to an ideological anchor of the Trump era. And, unfortunately for us, he thinks the country would be better off without voting. Bloomberg Businessweek reporter, Max Chafkin, has written a book about Thiel and his mind boggling worldview: The Contrarian. He joins Max to discuss what Thiel wants from the Republican Party, his mentorship of J.D. Vance, and how he's emboldening a huge swath of tech leaders to be openly MAGA.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Jon Lovett and Ben Rhodes join Max to explore how 1983?s ?WarGames? predicted the internet era. The film is a fascinating time capsule of Reagan era tech optimism, nuclear war doomerism, and Matthew Broderick?s puckish charm. Ben dives into the foreign policy behind the movie, drawing on his own experience traveling the country with Obama and a briefcase of nuclear codes. Lovett reminisces about 80s computing, marvels at how technology has changed since then, and talks shop on tic-tac-toe. This and more on Offline Movie Club: The Sequel!

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Elon Musk hosted Donald Trump for a two and a half hour ramble on Twitter?s garbage live streaming platform?and if you think SpaceX flubs launches?well, they?ve got nothing on X Spaces. Max sits down with Hysteria?s Erin Ryan to recap the most head-smacking parts of the conversation, and ask the question of our generation: if Elon doesn?t call it X, why should we? After that, Katie Paul, director of the Tech Transparency Project, joins the show to talk about J.D. Vance?s ties to a small but powerful faction of tech elites in Silicon Valley. Vance?s personal investments in Rumble, the favored social media of racist militias, expose his true tech agenda of enriching his friends and himself at the expense of the rest of us.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Why is Tim Walz, a 60-year-old dad from Minnesota, so internet savvy? And why is he so good at making right wingers look not just weird, but also extremely, chronically and dangerously online? Jon and Max discuss the meme appeal of Harris? new VP pick, why Republicans are sinking deeper into weirdness with transphobic attacks on Olympians, and what X?s latest legal tantrum is really about.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

All of a sudden, nearly every Democrat in the country has started calling out Republicans for being really damn weird. And with JD Vance?s pronatalist views and Trump?s insistence that Kamala Harris isn?t actually Black, the GOP isn?t beating the allegations. When did Republican rhetoric go from fear-inducing, to groan-inducing? Jon is joined by Laura K. Field, a researcher and political theorist who recently published a piece in POLITICO on the topic, and who is writing a book about the evolution of the Republican party. She breaks down why GOP weirdness is tied to the emergence of the ?New Right,? how JD Vance exemplifies this moment, and how to prevent the movement from capturing more power in American politics.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Kamala Harris memes are bringing together leftists and wine moms, neolib shills and NeverTrumpers, political wonks and pop stars across every platform. Why is the presumptive Democratic nominee for president breaking the internet and right-wing brains? Jon and Max discuss the danger of the VP leaning into the memes, MAGA trolls' reaction to her candidacy, and how much of Silicon Valley is all in on Trump.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

We still don?t know why a 20-year-old from Pennsylvania opened fire on Trump last weekend. Lone shooters whose paths from normalcy to vigilantism seem esoteric, obscure, or perverse have become a familiar pattern?but there?s actually a lot we do understand about the origins of political violence. Max sits down with terrorism scholar J.M. Berger to understand the psychology of violent extremists and what role the internet plays in their decision to act. But first! Max is joined by the New Yorker?s Jessica Winter to talk about the online fandom around Vice President Kamala Harris and the true meaning of the coconut emoji.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Elle Reeve, CNN commentator and author of the new book Black Pill, joins Offline to share her reporting on the darkest corners of the internet. For over a decade, Reeve has tracked the emergence of the alt-right, watched them radicalize on sites like 4chan and 8chan, and documented their migration off the web and into the streets of Charlottesville and halls of the Capitol. She and Jon talk about how this new brand of white nationalism feeds on male loneliness and white resentment, the schisms within the movement, and its implications for politics. But first! Jon and Max unpack the last few weeks of Dem Drama®. The guys critique the debate discourse, explain why social media forced this conversation to happen, and reveal why Jon is finally disabling some of his Twitter notifications.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Chat GPT isn?t going to top the Billboard Hot 100 any time soon, but something is happening with AI and music?something?s BEEN happening. Unlike in entertainment and journalism, big music labels and even musicians like Drake and Grimes are cautiously embracing the latest in AI. And the results are not all bad! New Yorker writer John Seabrook sits down with Max to explain why the music industry has historically adopted new technologies, and how that Muddies the Waters around what is made by humans vs. what is made by machines. What does the future of songwriting look like with an AI Bob Dylan? Will a tide of lowbrow AI slop hurt artist payouts? And what?s really behind the record industry standing with artists?

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Has this pod saved America?from phone addiction?! We got Jon Lovett to take a rather extreme version of the Offline challenge in Fiji, AND America?s top doctor and friend of the pod Vivek Murthy is now calling for a Surgeon General?s warning label on social media platforms. Max and Jon bask in their success, then mourn the dismantling of the Stanford Internet Observatory, the nation?s leading mis- and disinformation research organization. Then, Max sits down with longtime tech journalist Brian Merchant to talk about whether AI development is slowing down, why workers should organize against the technology, and what good AI use cases and centaurs have in common.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

The kids are not alright, and the culprit is their phones. That?s the thesis of social psychologist Jonathan Haidt?s new book, The Anxious Generation. He joins Offline to discuss why he thinks smartphones and social media are fueling a teen and adolescent mental health epidemic, the evidence behind his claims, and the criticism his anti-phone crusade has received. Then he and Jon dive into the four recommendations Haidt believes will lead us out of this crisis.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Why are Republicans apologists for misinformation? How should campaigns respond to online trolls? Are Democrats still using an Obama-era digital strategy? Journalist Sasha Issenberg joins Offline to talk about his new book, The Lie Detectives, and to break down how to defeat conservatives in a truth-agnostic world. He and Jon discuss how today?s political class is adapting to a tumultuous and Trumpy social media landscape, and why controlling today?s narrative is more elusive than ever before.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Critic Emily St. James and Crooked?s Halle Kiefer join Max to talk about ?WALL-E.? The 2008 Pixar film depicts a future in which humans are so addicted to their screens that it takes a robot mutiny led by a mobile trash compactor to get them to log off. Why did the filmmakers opt for a trashpocalypse? How problematic is the movie?s portrayal of fatness? Why wasn?t there cancel culture aboard the spaceship? Find out in our last installment of Offline Movie Club (for now!).

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Birds Aren?t Real founder, Peter McIndoe, joins to talk about the impact of the satirical conspiracy that captured the imagination of Gen Z and what he learned about the appeal of false realities after spending years in character as one of the nation?s leading conspiracy theorists. But first: Is TikTok helping Trump win? Why is Google telling people to eat rocks? And what?s the story behind the ?All Eyes on Rafah? image going viral across Instagram? Jon and Max break it down.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Are we all living in The Matrix? Eh, probably not. But our tech obsessed, social media driven world is a lot closer to the reality The Matrix posed in 1999 than the Wachowskis probably ever dreamed of! New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie and host of Hysteria Erin Ryan, join Max to watch the beloved sci fi film and break down the ways The Matrix inspired a generation of tech bros and why so many people ? from the online right to the LGBTQ+ community to recovering tech journalists ? see themselves in its allegory.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Do we treat political affiliation like a religion? Which parts of our identity are based off factual belief vs. imaginary belief? This week, Max talks to Professor Neil Van Leeuwen about the difference between thinking and believing, the power of groupish thought, and the similarities between religious creeds and political ideologies. But first! Jon and Max break down the drama between Scarlet Johansson and OpenAI, pick apart the TikTok blockout, and suspend their disbelief that a close friend of the pod is?on Survivor?! Will he love it or leave it?

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.